Small House Holding Our Big Dreams

[Catt 8]

Thanks @hoWL!

[kachan 2]

On 19/01/2017 at 0:13 PM, Catt said:

Short Update 19 Jan 2017

So I have to share all the good, the bad and the ugly right?

On New Year's Eve, I discovered that my shoe cabinet was infested by wood-eating larva which develop into beetles when full-grown. The beetle looks black and the larva is off-white. I'm not sure what species it is.

Anyway, I discovered it as there were funny track mark-type bumps under the inner white laminate of the cabinet. And holes!! and sawdust at the bottom of the cabinet. And the body of a beetle-like creature! Argggh. I threw away the body as I was too distraught. Initially I wanted to just clear out all the holes (I found about 4 holes with tunnels) and then put in wood-filler and call it a day.

Then as I was applying the wood-filler, I noticed more bumps under the laminate. Since there were already holes, I decided to cut open the bumps with a penknife. There were soft bits of pulpy wood underneath, not solid like the rest of the plywood. I didn't see anything. Then I noticed a tiny hole in the tunnel and poked it with a toothpick.

YUCK!! A larva was pulled out. I tried to take a picture of it, but since it is whitish, it is hard to see, but I could see it there, stabbed by my toothpick, glistening in the torch lighting.

After that I discovered even more bumps and just threw my hands up in the air and called the contractor. That was almost 3 weeks ago. Luckily the carpenter came back and installed a new cabinet for me. I hope it is just this cabinet and not ALL the plywood built-ins in the entire house. I will just die. I guess the wood he obtained was not treated properly. And I am lucky they took responsibility to change it as they initially came with a tube of sealant to just seal the holes made by the larva.

YUCKS See the worm??!

 

These were two holes made at one side of the cabinet and were smaller.

Since the carpenter came down yesterday, they also sealed the bottom of the kitchen cabinets for me (yay no more entombing cockroach fears) and fixed one of the sliding doors of the wardrobe which had gotten wonky (Apparently the pulley/wheel inside broke or went off-track).

So the only thing I have to do now is to patch the paint around the shoe cabinet myself, as they had to remove the infested cabinet and the removal damaged the paint.

 

Wheeew!

 

 

OMG! *faints* where do you think it came from, the wood eating larvae... eeeeekkk!! i sure hope all plywood installed in your house is indeed not infested!

[Catt 8]

On 25/01/2017 at 0:41 AM, kachan said:

OMG! *faints* where do you think it came from, the wood eating larvae... eeeeekkk!! i sure hope all plywood installed in your house is indeed not infested!

It came from within the wood! The eggs were already in there. Wooden pallets are chemically treated by submerging them in vats of chemicals to kill off pests and eggs. I believe a similiar process is used for plywood for carpentry. I suppose this was not done on the batch of wood the carpenter obtained and used.

[kachan 2]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

It came from within the wood! The eggs were already in there. Wooden pallets are chemically treated by submerging them in vats of chemicals to kill off pests and eggs. I believe a similiar process is used for plywood for carpentry. I suppose this was not done on the batch of wood the carpenter obtained and used.

oh nooo!!!!! literally im having goosebumps now! hahahaha! hope everything is sorted now yah

[trcd 13]

On 19 January 2017 at 0:13 PM, Catt said:

Short Update 19 Jan 2017

So I have to share all the good, the bad and the ugly right?

On New Year's Eve, I discovered that my shoe cabinet was infested by wood-eating larva which develop into beetles when full-grown. The beetle looks black and the larva is off-white. I'm not sure what species it is.

Anyway, I discovered it as there were funny track mark-type bumps under the inner white laminate of the cabinet. And holes!! and sawdust at the bottom of the cabinet. And the body of a beetle-like creature! Argggh. I threw away the body as I was too distraught. Initially I wanted to just clear out all the holes (I found about 4 holes with tunnels) and then put in wood-filler and call it a day.

Then as I was applying the wood-filler, I noticed more bumps under the laminate. Since there were already holes, I decided to cut open the bumps with a penknife. There were soft bits of pulpy wood underneath, not solid like the rest of the plywood. I didn't see anything. Then I noticed a tiny hole in the tunnel and poked it with a toothpick.

YUCK!! A larva was pulled out. I tried to take a picture of it, but since it is whitish, it is hard to see, but I could see it there, stabbed by my toothpick, glistening in the torch lighting.

After that I discovered even more bumps and just threw my hands up in the air and called the contractor. That was almost 3 weeks ago. Luckily the carpenter came back and installed a new cabinet for me. I hope it is just this cabinet and not ALL the plywood built-ins in the entire house. I will just die. I guess the wood he obtained was not treated properly. And I am lucky they took responsibility to change it as they initially came with a tube of sealant to just seal the holes made by the larva.

YUCKS See the worm??!

 

These were two holes made at one side of the cabinet and were smaller.

Since the carpenter came down yesterday, they also sealed the bottom of the kitchen cabinets for me (yay no more entombing cockroach fears) and fixed one of the sliding doors of the wardrobe which had gotten wonky (Apparently the pulley/wheel inside broke or went off-track).

So the only thing I have to do now is to patch the paint around the shoe cabinet myself, as they had to remove the infested cabinet and the removal damaged the paint.

 

Wheeew!

 

 

This is absolutely horrifying and disgusting!!  Glad that it's all resolved now.

What a nightmare when you should be enjoying the new place.

When morning comes, I'm going to scan my cupboards with a flashlight and make sure there are no tunnel bumps anywhere......

[Catt 8]

On 31/01/2017 at 9:59 PM, trcd said:

This is absolutely horrifying and disgusting!!  Glad that it's all resolved now.

What a nightmare when you should be enjoying the new place.

When morning comes, I'm going to scan my cupboards with a flashlight and make sure there are no tunnel bumps anywhere......

Ehh don't let my mishap worry you...I'm sure this doesn't happen all the time. I'm just unlucky this round eh.

[Chen Zing 0]

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[AunAun 0]

On 6/29/2016 at 11:50 AM, brightz said:

Hi there, just to share what i have gone through.

My unit just went through the HIP 2 months back and the HDB contractor informed that they will do a hack through when they change the piping, i.e. including removing the cast iron ''ring'' that is embedded in the ceilings between both units unless your neighbour above or below your unit opt out for the upgrading, then they are unable to perform the hack through but just cut and change the portion that can be seen in our kitchen.

For my case, my piping from the top was a cut through but bottom wasn't as unit below mine opt out for the upgrading.

I heard that if this iron 'ring' embedded in the ceilings between upper and lower units is not removed, it may rust further and may cause leaking in future. True?

The floors of my 2 toilets were hacked and re-screeded about 3 years and 8 months ago. Now, my master toilet failed the HIP water test although my common toilet passed it. Should I let the HIP contractors hack and re-screed both my toilets' floors?

My concerns:

a) I heard from neighbours, whose homes had completed their HIP upgrading, that the workmanship was sloppy and the coordination was messy -- different workers did the same job for the same unit on different days and the flat-owner had to say the same thing ten times or so.

b) Another unit's common toilet was tested by the surveyor and found to be not leaking and not requiring hacking. After 10 days of hacking and repairing the master toilet and replacing the sanitary pipes in the common toilet, the surveyor said the common toilet was leaking and requiring hacking. The owner would have to tolerate another 10 days of so much trouble and time spent.

c) Ceiling above kitchen windows of unit below mine had water leaking very badly. Someone living in the unit told HIP personnel that the leaking started after the clothes drying racks (part of the HIP) were installed but was told by HIP personnel that this leaking was not the responsibility of HIP personnel and that he/she had to report to the town council. The unit then reported to the town council. The town council then sent 2 workers to my home to check and one of them told me that it could be the silicone not being applied properly on the wall for the clothes drying rack. About a week later, the HIP contractors sent 2 workers to apply silicone. A few days after that, the unit below mine told me the leaking had stopped. HDB's reply (which I assume was from the HIP consultant or HIP contractor) was:

"Regarding HIP contractor applying sealant to the gap between the clothes drying rack (CDR) plate and the kitchen parapet, it was not meant for preventing “the seepage to the lower floor kitchen window”. It was to just seal the gap that was due to unevenness of the existing kitchen parapet. The leak reported by the lower floor resident was not likely due to the installation of the CDR. We have verified with the lower floor resident on 28 May 2021 that the leak at the ceiling above her kitchen window has stopped."

Edited June 15, 2021 by AunAun
Inserted my concerns and quote from someone else's post.